A New Leader — and a New Showdown — at the Fed

About this episode

<p>After a year of harassing and threatening Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, President Trump replaced him on Wednesday.</p> <p>Colby Smith, who covers the Fed, explains how the president ended one standoff only to create a new one.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/colby-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Colby Smith</strong></a>, a New York Times reporter covering the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/politics/kevin-warsh-fed-chair-confirmed.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh</a> as the new chair of the Federal Reserve.</li> <li>Video: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010884024/how-jerome-powell-managed-a-chaotic-era.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Jerome Powell managed a chaotic era</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times, Caroline Gutman for The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>